Give Away

Today is the day you may or may not have been waiting for. I'm having my first give away which will run through Sunday, Feb 7 (my granddaughter's birthday). The rules are simple: comment here and post it on your blog. Everyone gets one chance and the winners will be drawn using a random number generator. Please sign your comment with your first name last initial and leave your blog address. I'll come pay you a visit and get to meet new people. The First Prize is this hot off the presses book by Bonnie Hunter a signed copy. If you are not familiar with her you can find her at http://www.quiltville.com/. Second prize will be this kit for a useful item to use in your sewing room - you provide your favorite fabric everything else is included. Last, but not least, will be 4 flannel fat quarters in fall colors.

Let the fun begin and if you are new to this blog please take the time to read the post on January 13 this year about the chocolate cake question and then place your vote on the poll to the right. If you feel so inclined let us know how you voted and why. Only if you want to.

Good Morning

It is a windy, cold day here in Rupert. The sun was out this morning, but it looks like another storm system is headed our way. You may have noticed that I changed the picture on my header. This is what I see out my front window. The mountain is MT. Harrison. We are about 25 miles away so I took the picture with my zoom on my camera.

Dh has been out working on the deck that will run between the house and the quilt room. When it is finished it will have a screened in section, an enclosed part and the front part will be open. I'll try to get pictures of all the stages. This one is what was accomplished before he got to cold to continue. This spring we will be painting the outside of the quilt room and the house. The plan is to paint the quilt room a barn red with white trim and the house a white with red trim. Then we are going to paint a 3' x 3' quilt block to put up on the outside of the quilt room. I've decide to use the Ohio Star Block since it is on my business card.

I want to welcome all the people that are following my blog. Please feel free to leave comments, pose questions if you have them or just say HI when you get the chance.

Last, but not least Rosie Cat has decided that DH is her person. She follows him around, curls up in his chair or at his feet when he is on the computer, and when he watches t.v. she is in his lap soaking up all the attention she can get.

Knit-A-Long with Lyon Brand

Lyon Brand Yarn is having a knit-a-long startin this coming Thursday. I'm planning to try the sweater. Now to find some yarn and do a swatch ahead of time so I am ready to get started. Hope some of you will be joining me in this endeavor and you let me know you are knitting along.

The poll for the Chocolate Cake debate is coming along nicely. Don't forget to leave a comment on the post also when you vote.

Hope wherever you live your weather isn't making life to uncomfortable for you. This picture is the view we had yesterday morning from our living room window. The mountain is called MT Harrison and really stands out with the snow on it. It is about 30 miles from us.

Confessions of the Not So Famous

Here we are in the middle of January already. I know that most blogs host a giveaway when they reach 100 posts and I have passed that milestone. My excuse poor though it is - I was really busy moving. I will be hosting a giveaway, but it will have to wait until the gift I am giving is published and then arrives in my mailbox so I can send it to the winners mailbox. There maybe more than one surprise I am still thinking. So in the meantime I have a question for all of you.

In our family we have an ongoing debate of what is a CHOCOLATE CAKE?
Anita (me) says it is a cake that is chocolate, devil's food etc. with any kind of frosting.
Carl (dh) says it is any cake with a chocolate frosting. That the frosting determines what the cake is.

Needless to say it has created many lively discussions over the years and the family nuclear and extended is divided in their opinions. So what I would like to know is
What do you think is a chocolate cake. Please vote in the poll on the right.

P.S. DH has read the blog and says I have it wrong. He says that when you go to the store and tell the baker by pointing at the cake with the chocolate frosting "I want that chocolate cake", and then you take it home and cut it and you see what the cake is. So he says it could be any cake, but a chocolate cake is the one with the chocolate frosting. The poll has been changed to reflect this new information. We strive to be accurate.

This is what was in my SSCS package from Liz at http://luv2cre8te.blogspot.com/ . I'm looking forward to using everything. Stop by and see her she is very talented.

While many were working on the mystery quilt at quiltville.com I was working on this quilt which I have decided to call Christmas Cards. It is a Winning Hands quilt the pattern is by Eleanor Burns so since I worked on it over Christmas I thought Christmas Cards would be a good name. I still have to figure out borders. I'm trying to decide if I should do a border with the print and then a black one or if I should do a black one with the outside border being the print. What do you think?

Lately, when it is meal time the Rosie Cat has decided that she should get something to eat also. So she climbs up in a chair at the table and begs. She watches every move we make and every so often she gets very vocal about being left out. I'm thinking I should put a phone book in the chair so she can sit up higher. Sometimes when she can't stand it any longer a paw comes up and stretches trying to reach anything she can. She has also recently taken a liking to DH. The other night she climbed into his lap and spent the evening. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that.

Let Christmas Begin

Today my SSCS gift from Liz arrived after it's sightseeing trip. Since I moved this year my old address was the one that was given so the package first went to my old address in WA. Luckily my son is living in our house and checking our mail so I was able to call him and ask if a package from Australia had shown up for me.

He says;" I just got something that says I have to sign for a package."

So I told him he needed to go to the Post Office before he went to work and have the package forwarded on to me at the new address. So on Friday last he makes it to the post office to forward the package. He tells the postal clerk that he has a package he needs to forward to Idaho for his Mom.

Two packages are put on the counter, and the boy being in a hurry to get to work says," What's the matter with Margaret she knows Mom moved to Idaho why is she sending her something here". (He didn't read the address to see that it is addressed to him) So he proceeds to put labels on both packages and sends them off to me. On his way to work he calls me to tell me he has sent two packages on to me.

Two packages, I say. Who are they from?

He replies, "One was an international package and the other one said Merry Christmas from Mike, Margaret and Andrew."

I ask was that one a long, fairly flat red one?

Yes, says he.

I, being the wonderful Mother that I am, say, "Son, you should have read the label. We just got one like that yesterday from Margaret so you just sent us your Christmas present from her. (as I fall in the floor laughing)

He says in horror, : "OH, no I'm a re-gifter!" To top it all off it is sausages and cheese which he loves.

So now my SSCS gift has arrived and here is a picture of my ornament from Liz. Thank you very much Liz I will think of you every year when it goes on the tree.

Winning Hand

I've been working on a Winning Hand quilt which should finish about double size. This is a picture of one the blocks. It's the first time I have made this pattern using a black background. So far I am liking it very much.

We have been having cold weather but lots of sunshine. Miss Emma has been spending most of her day watching her own shadow. She is so easily entertained. When she takes her nap you can usually find her under the top quilt on the bed.

Bonnie Hunter over on Quiltville is doing a mystery quilt. I am saving the instruction so I can make it later. So far I am liking what I am seeing and I am looking forward to making this quilt. It's not to late to join in. This pattern will only remain on her site for a short time and then it will be retired. It is a work at your own pace mystery and if you like scrap quilts this is the place to be.